Milan, Italy

While in Milan, we visited the Sforza Castle, the local fortification that is emblematic of Milan. It was built in the 1360s by the Visconti family as part of the medieval city walls. In the 1400s, the Sfroza family took over and rebuilt it as a much larger castle. Over the centuries, additions and alterations were made. The castle was seen as emblematic of tyranny and foreign rule, so they locals often fought against the inhabitants. It wasn't until Italy was unified in the late 1800s that the castle became a museum and cultural center. The locals then embraced it as something especially Milanese. 

Sforza Castle

Rook-like tower at the corner of the castle

Over the main gate is a bas relief of Umberto the First, king of Italy from 1878 to 1900 (when he was assassinated). He led with a strong, conservative hand that resulted in a few assassination attempts, the successful one being by an Italian-American anarchist on July 29, 1900. 

Umberto the First

In the first courtyard is a statue of St. John Nepomucene, along with an inner tower.

What's a Bohemian saint doing here?

One of the courtyards has a nice reflecting pool.

A quiet spot in the castle

The fort is mostly an art museum now. The most famous work of art is a pieta by Michelangelo, though not the most famous one at the Vatican. This is a late, unfinished work that floated around in various collections until it wound up here. The plan was to have the Blessed Mother and another figure holding up the dead body of Jesus just after being taken down from the cross.

Pieta by Michelangelo

A long and winding path leads through various exhibits, mostly of local artists (of which there has been many over the centuries). Some of the items are from churches, some from public buildings, some from private residences.

Burial monument

Offering the city to the Madonna and Child

Painted statues

More painted statues

Arches

A lot of furniture from various centuries is on display as well. This curio cabinet fascinated me with its representation of the five senses in small, white statues, and tempting vices in the bottom middle.

I would have one of these in my home

A long gallery of paintings and frescos shows the developing styles and tastes in fine art.

Renaissance fresco

The musical instrument section had a lot of different stringed instruments, including some that seemed like a single person could not play them.

Guitars, fairly normal

Some more exotic instruments

Is this supposed to come apart like Voltron?

Some of the basses and violins had fanciful heads on the necks. 

A tough audience to get away from

A famous shopping plaza is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. The hallway is multistory. The shops and restaurants are posh, with many famous Milan designers' stores. We did not do any shopping here.

Entrance to the Galleria

Inside the Galleria

Under the dome

The Galleria is on the Piazza Duomo. The Duomo is the famous cathedral of Milan, both large and ornate beyond imagining. 

The Duomo

The church has hundreds of decorations on the outside, with statues and scenes from the Bible.

Tower of Babel

David Slays Goliath

We came on Sunday morning to go to Mass (because that's what the cathedral is for, after all), and got this amazing sun-lit photo. 

The side of the church

The other side

Not a statue, just my son having fun running in the Piazza

Moses and a centurion

Also on the piazza is the Palazzo Reale di Milano, the Doge's Palace. It's an art museum now, so we were not ready for more after the fort's collection. 

Royal Palace

Not too far away is a smaller plaza, the Piazza Mercanti. It was the market place in medieval times. Now the plaza is used for other events. They had a big screen up, maybe for a summer movie program?

Piazza Mercanti with the back of the screen on the left

A balcony overlooking the piazza

More of the piazza and screen

Walking back to the metro, I saw a statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi, a famous Milanese general who fought in the 1800s to unite Italy (he's considered one of the "fathers of the fatherland").

Garibaldi statue

View with the castle in the background

Inspired by a geocache, I went to the Church of San Maurizio. It was a Benedictine nunnery for a long time but now is an art museum. Well, it has tons of art on the walls that can't be moved, so it's not so much a collection as a place with amazing works on practically ever inch of the walls, doors, and ceilings.

San Maurizio church

The nuns' part of the church

They have a famous painting of Noah's Ark with unicorns going up the ramp. This was the geocache destination, so I am in the picture.

Unicorns did make it on the ark?

Another fun facade I found

On the last day, we took a bus to the airport. The bus stop is right by the Lido di Milano, a well-built gateway that seems like it leads to a run-down park. Apparently there's a large pool and mini-golf further back but we didn't see anything nearby.

Run-down sports center?

Impressive carvings

We were sad to leave our vacation but it had been a long three weeks, so it was definitely time to get home.

View of the Alps from our plane